Cab Driver Charged With Hate Crime For Attack On 3 Hasidic Men

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK -- The cab driver who allegedly attacked three Jewish men in Borough Park, almost mauling one with his car, beating another and screaming "Israel, Israel" after he chased a third, now faces hate crime charges, prosecutors said.

Farrukh Afzal, 38, began his attack on Oct. 14 at about 7:25 a.m. when he allegedly swerved his cab and almost hit his first victim on 13th Avenue near 44th Street, prosecutors said.

Afzal then drove to 46th Street where he jumped out of his cab, chased a 62-year-old Hasidic man, body-slammed and beat him, prosecutors said.

A third Hasidic man tried to stop the enraged cab driver, but Afzal turned to chase him until a good Samaritan restrained him, said prosecutors.

Witnesses heard Afzal screaming what sounded like "Allah" and “Israel, Israel,” prosecutors said.

Afzal was arraigned Thursday in Brooklyn Criminal Court on a 17-count indictment that includes assault and menacing as hate crimes, prosecutors said.

The Staten Island man was ordered to have a psychiatric exam, is expected to return to court on Jan. 14, and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.

Patch was not immediately able to reach Afzal's Legal Aid Society attorney for comment.

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